Be Careful To Maintain Good Works

Q: What does the Bible say about good works?

The Bible emphasizes that good works are necessary for believers as a demonstration of their faith and obedience to God. According to Scripture, particularly in Titus 3:8, good works are described as essential for believers, not as a means of earning salvation but as a natural outcome of genuine faith. Believers are called to maintain good works, reflecting their relationship with Christ, who saves and sanctifies them. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that such works are good and profitable to others, encouraging believers to act in love and kindness, thereby adorning the doctrine of God our Savior.

Q: How do we know that salvation is by grace and not by works?

Salvation is by grace alone through faith in Christ, as emphasized in multiple Scripture passages. The foundation of Reformed theology is that salvation is not based on human works but solely on God's grace. This doctrine is rooted in passages like Ephesians 2:8-9, which asserts that we are saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves; it is the gift of God. The Apostle Paul, in Titus 3:5, reinforces this truth by stating that He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. Thus, understanding that our relationship with God rests fully on Christ’s merit and not our own works is crucial.

Q: Why are good works important for Christians?

Good works are important because they are the fruit of genuine faith and reflect our salvation in Christ. Good works serve as evidence of a believer’s faith and are vital to the Christian life. While they do not earn salvation, they follow naturally from it, as indicated in passages such as Philippians 2:13, which notes that God works in us to will and to act according to His purpose. The Apostle Paul urges believers to maintain good works not only for their spiritual growth but also to benefit others, as these actions can encourage and lead others to Christ. In essence, good works arise from a transformed heart and are a response of gratitude for God’s unmerited grace.

Q: What are the characteristics of good works?

Good works must be done in faith, for the glory of God, and born from a heart of love for Christ. The characteristics of good works are multifaceted according to Scripture. Firstly, good works must align with God’s will as revealed in Scripture (1 Peter 2:9). Secondly, they must be performed in faith, meaning that anything not done by faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Thirdly, the ultimate aim of all good works is the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Additionally, good works are motivated by love for Christ, signifying that our actions should arise from a genuine heart of love and devotion (John 14:15). Therefore, good works are not merely outward actions but a reflection of our inward transformation.

Turn with me again this evening
to Titus chapter two, I'm sorry, Titus chapter three, Titus the
third chapter. The Lord enabled me this morning
to show you clearly that we are saved by grace alone and not
by works. That our works have absolutely
nothing to do with our relationship with God Almighty. that our works
have absolutely nothing to do with our being accepted of God,
that our works have absolutely nothing to do with our election,
redemption, justification, regeneration, sanctification, preservation,
or everlasting glory. Our standing before God, our
relationship with God, our acceptance with God, is and must be upon
the merit of Jesus Christ alone. I cannot say that frequently
enough. I cannot stress it forcefully
enough. It needs to be understood in
our day. I told you a long, long time ago, our relationship with
God does not in any measure depend upon what we do. And yet, Our
relationship with God does in great measure determine what
we do. So tonight I want to talk to
you about the subject of Titus chapter 3 and that subject is
be careful to maintain good works. Three times in this chapter,
the Apostle Paul tells us to maintain good works, to perform
good works. In verse one, he tells Titus
to put the folks who hear him in remembrance and to be ready
to every good work. In verse eight, he says this
is a faithful saint. And these things I will, that
thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God
might be careful to maintain good works. These things are
good and profitable unto men. And then in verse 14, he says,
And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses. that they be not unfruitful. So the subject of this chapter
is good works. Paul's object, the Holy Spirit's
object is to encourage Titus and all who preach the gospel
to encourage God's saints as they live in this world to carefully,
carefully make certain that they maintain good works. And notice
the text that I'm going to use this evening in verse eight.
The Apostle says, this is a faithful Savior. This is a faithful Savior. And what he's referring to is
that which he had just stated in verses four through seven.
He says, after that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward
man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have
done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. by the washing of
regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he had
shed on us, or which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Now this
is a faithful saint. This is a faithful saint. You
can bank on those things. You can rest your soul on these
things. We're saved by God's free grace.
And this is what he uses to be the foundation and the motive
for his argument. He doesn't raise some legal suggestion. He doesn't say, now you be careful
to maintain good works because if you don't, God's going to
get you. He doesn't say you be careful to maintain good works
because if you do, God will surely bless you. But rather he says
be careful to maintain good works because God's been gracious to
you. God's been gracious to you. He
redeemed you. He saved you by his grace. He
justified you. He called you out of darkness
into light from death to life. He's brought you into a saving
union with himself by his free grace. Now, on that basis, this
is what he says. And these things I will that
thou affirm constantly. That is, preach grace, preach
grace, preach grace. Affirm it constantly. And for
this purpose, that they which have believed might be careful
to maintain good works. Now Paul might have told Titus
to faithfully preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
with this assurance. All who do believe on him will
maintain good works. That's a fact. That certainly
is clearly taught in Scripture. There is no such thing as a believer
who does not maintain good works in the tenor of his life. There's
no such thing as a Christian who does not seek to honor God
his Savior by works of love, faith, and obedience to him.
All who live in contempt of God's law and live in contempt of God's
honor do not know God. Now I can't say that more plainly.
If a man or a woman lives in contempt of God's honor and in
contempt of God's law, he doesn't know God. They just don't know
God. There's not any two ways about
that. It doesn't matter what they profess. It doesn't matter
what they've experienced. It doesn't matter what they've
done. If anyone lives in contempt of God's law and God's honor,
they don't know God. They just, they've never experienced
grace. Their religion's a sham. Listen to the scriptures. Being
then made free from sin. If Bob Pontzer and Don Fortner
had been made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
That's what the book says. Those who have been made free
from the reigning power and dominion of sin by God's saving grace
have become the servants of righteousness. And they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. God has
ordained that his people walk in good works, and what God has
ordained, God will bring to pass. The apostle tells us in chapter
2 of Titus, in verse 15, that Christ gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. And Christ will have the end
for which he died. Those whom he has redeemed, he
will purify by his grace in regeneration, and he will make them to be a
zealous people, zealous to maintain good works. So God's people,
in the general tenor of their lives, live in godliness. They live in true holiness. They
live according to good works. They don't talk about it much.
They've got better sense than that. For they recognize that
their very best works are tainted and polluted with sin. But God's
people do it. They do it. Other folks talk
about doing good, the saints of God don't talk about it, they
just do it. Other folks talk about being holy, God's people
are made holy. Other folks talk about living
in godliness, God's people are godly. And the more they walk
after the faith of Christ, the more they recognize their own
sin, and yet the more persistently they commit themselves to Him.
Listen to this. Faith, if it hath not works,
is dead. It's dead. Yeah, a man may say,
thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, James says sarcastically, and I'll show you my faith by
my works. Thou believest there is one God, so what? What's the
big deal? Well, he believes in Jesus. He
lives like hell, but he believes in Jesus. That's nothing. The
devils believe, only they believe better than most religious folks
do. At least they tremble. The devils believe and tremble.
Knowest thou not, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? So Paul could easily have said,
and been exactly right to say, Titus, preach the gospel, and
know this, that those who are born of God will maintain good
works. But in our text, he's talking
about our responsibility. He's not discussing just the
fact of what will happen, he's discussing what is our responsibility
as believers in this world. He's telling Titus, now Titus,
you preach the gospel. Preach the gospel and teach those
who come upon you to preach the gospel for this purpose, that
those who hear you may be inspired by the gospel to maintain good
works. That's our responsibility. It
is your responsibility and mine, as we are the saints of God in
this world, to maintain good works. And we must be careful
about it. We must be careful about it because
good works, truly good works, are contrary to the flesh. They're
always contrary to the flesh. Good works are opposed by Satan,
and good works are disadvantageous in this world. Now let me try
this evening to answer three or four questions that I hope
will help you to understand the necessity of good works. First,
let me answer this question. who will maintain good works.
A natural and unregenerate man simply cannot do anything that's
good in the sight of God. There is in every human being
both an inability and an aversion to good works. I didn't say there
is an inability to do good in the eyes of men. I didn't say
there's an aversion to doing good to be seen of men. I said
there is an inability and an aversion to anything that is
truly good before God. We don't know, really, by nature. Man has no idea what good works
are. And if we knew what they were
and had a desire to perform them, we still don't have any ability
to. The scripture says, there is none that doeth good, not
one. Not one. There's not a just man
upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Well, who can
maintain good works? Who can and will perform them?
First, only a good man can do good. Listen to what our Lord
says. Turn to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew
the 12th chapter, verse 35. This is what our Lord says. A good man, a good man, out of
the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things. And
an evil man, out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil
things. Well, alright, a good man, out
of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good things, but
I've just told you and shown you from the scriptures, there's
no such thing as a good man. Unless a person has been made
good by the grace of God. You see, a good work of grace
must be performed in us before we can do anything that's good
and acceptable to God. A good work of grace must be
performed in us before we can produce anything or bring forth
anything that's good before God. It is God that worketh in you. both to will and to do of his
own good pleasure. Therefore, since God works in
us, now we work outwardly that good work of grace which God
has produced in us. You must be made a new creature
in Christ, or you can't do good for Christ. In this generation,
preachers and soul winners and religious teachers grabbed Kids,
as soon as they can learn to wobble along and say mama and
daddy, they grab them and get them to make a profession of
faith and tell them, now serve the Lord. Serve the Lord. They
get folks who've been involved in some kind of calamity or some
kind of a physical or mental tragedy and they pull them aside
and get them to make a profession of faith, now serve the Lord.
It's time to start serving the Lord. You can't serve God. Will
you hear me? You can't serve God. That's what
Joshua told the children of Israel. They said we'll serve the Lord.
He said you can't. You cannot by nature serve God. It's an utter impossibility to
be the servant of God and to do good for God until God's done
something for you. Secondly, before we can do good,
We must be purified and sanctified by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the grace of our God. Back here in Titus 2.14
again, Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from
all iniquity and purify. Purify? Yes, purify unto himself
a peculiar people, zealous of good works. He would make his
people distinct from other people in this world. You see, until
our hands are cleansed, everything we touch is defiled. Until our
hearts are purified and sanctified by the grace of God, all that
we do is vile. We must be sanctified by God's
Spirit in regeneration if we would be neat to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. And we must be sanctified
by God's Spirit in regeneration if, according to 2 Timothy 2.21,
we would be neat for the master's use. and prepared unto all good
works. In other words, you've got to
be born again. You've got to be the object of grace before
you can do good. And thirdly, only those who have
the Spirit of God can do good works for Christ. Turn over to
the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 36. This is a prophecy
of the coming of the Holy Spirit by the covenant of God's grace
to chosen sinners, redeemed by the blood of Christ. If we would
do good, we must be strengthened by the Spirit of God with all
might in the inner man. It is for this purpose that God
the Holy Spirit's given to us. He's given to us that we might,
by His grace and by His strength and by His power, obey our God. Look at what it says here in
Ezekiel 36.25. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you. He's not talking about baptism,
he's talking about the Holy Spirit. And you shall be clean. You shall
be clean. Clean from all your filthiness
and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also
will I give you. And a new spirit will I put within
you. He doesn't say I'm going to take
the other one and make it good. He says I'm going to put a new
one. I'm going to put a new spirit and a new heart in you. And I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. And I'll give
your heart a flesh. And I'll put my spirit within
you and cause you, do you see that? I'll cause you. If I put my spirit in you, God
says, this is the result. I'll cause you to walk in my
statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them. Fourthly,
only those who have faith in Christ can do that which is good
and pleasing to God. Enoch walked with God and he
was not. And before he was taken, he had
this testimony that he pleased God. And I've read and heard
lots of sermons on that text of scripture. Hebrews chapter
11 verses 4 and 5. Oh, we ought to walk like Enoch
did. You ought to do good. And as
Enoch walked with God, he just got better and better and better
until at last he was right for heaven and God took him. That
ain't got nothing to do with what Enoch did. Nothing to do
with it at all. The very next line is this. But
without faith, it's impossible to please him. How did Enoch
please God? He believed God. He believed
God. He believed God. Can you get
that? You can't please God till you begin right here. Believe
Him. Believe Him. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the only human being of whom God the Father ever said, this
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He is well pleased
with us only as we are in his Son, only as we are accepted
in him, only as we believe in him. And he accepts us only because
of Christ's blood. You see, even those who are redeemed
by the blood of Christ, even those who are justified and sanctified
by the grace of God, can never perform anything absolutely good. Now, anyone here who knows God,
anyone here who knows God, will you please answer me this question?
Have you ever done anything, I mean, have you ever even thought
about doing anything really good before God? If there's one here,
you stand up and I'll sit down and let you do the preaching.
There's no such thing. When I would do good, Paul said,
evil's present with me. And I cannot do the things that
I would. So when I sin, there's no more
I that doeth the sin that dwelleth in me. And that sin so permeates
my being that everything I do is marred by sin. I can't do
good. We recognize that. So if our
works are accepted before God, they must be accepted not on
the basis of what we do, but rather on the basis of what Christ
has done for us. And so the Lord our God graciously
accepts our deeds through the merits of his Son. We offer up
spiritual sacrifice, sacrifices of faith. That's what a spiritual
sacrifice is. A spiritual sacrifice is not
offering up the blood of bulls and goats. A spiritual sacrifice
is anything done in faith. Anything by which we walking
before God seek to honor his name, we offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ the Lord. But God our Father
and God our Savior does accept and delight in the poor works
of his feeble children, performed by faith with a sincere heart
for Christ's sake. He really does. I looked at Faith
this afternoon. She's gone now, you know, and
when you look at them when they're grown, you remember fondly things
a long time ago. I remember her taking her first
steps. I remember distinctly, I remember like it was yesterday.
I'd get down on the floor on my knees and I'd say, come to
daddy, come to daddy. And here she'd come. Just doing
the best she could, walk two or three steps to get to me,
she'd fall down. I was so pleased, so pleased. You know why? She's coming to
daddy. She's coming to daddy. I'm telling you, as we walk with
God our savior by faith, coming to him, he's pleased even with
our feeble steps. Not because of anything worthy
in those steps, but because we're his, accepted by him through
the blood of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. The long and short
of it is this. Good works are always the fruit
of faith, never the root. God will never accept your good
works as the basis of salvation or mine. But if we are accepted
in the beloved, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then
God is pleased with and he accepts our works because he accepts
us in Christ. Indeed, if he could, he could
never, he could never even accept our faith. He could never even
accept our efforts at loving him. He could never accept the
very best we offer him, apart from the blood of Christ, because
everything we do sin. Now this is Paul's admonition
to you and me as believers. Be careful to maintain good works. Be careful and let ours learn
also to maintain good works for necessary uses. For they, that
they be not unfruitful. Now secondly, what are those
good works that we must be careful to maintain? Many people imagine
that they are doing good works for God by living austere lives,
a strict separation from the world. We go down frequently
to the Amish country down below Liberty, buy some things down
there, about two or three times a year. And man, those folks,
they're pretty strict. They're pretty strict. They dress
real strict. They call themselves the sinful
people. They like that. They're plain people, they like
faith. And they're very, very sincere.
They think they're serving God by not driving certain kinds
of cars. They think they're serving God by plowing with mules rather
than with a tractor. They think they're serving God
and doing God's service by those things with regard to austerity
and separation. There are many who think that
they are doing good, that they are serving God and doing good
works, being truly righteous, when they strictly obey certain
religious rules and regulations, or certain self-imposed rules
and regulations, customs and traditions, and think that thus
God will look on them and be pleased. Most all churches have certain
rules. If you want to be a member, you
got to abide by these rules, and they draw them up. And it
depends on where you are, what kind of rules they are. If you're
up north, and they draw up rules about not smoking, and you don't
do this, and you don't do that. Usually that's what they are,
is you don't do, and you don't do, and you don't do. Real negative.
If you're down south, where they raise tobacco, they don't say
too much about that. They draw up rules about not
drinking any wine, or mixed bathing. You know, when I was growing
up, man, you boys and girls didn't go swimming together. No! First time I ever heard telechristians
doing that, they were all Yankees. They don't think anything about
it. But down south, we don't do that. We draw up rules and
regulations. We think that by our imposing
certain things against ourselves, thereby we do good for God. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Many imagine that they, by the
outward performance of religious duties, by reading so much, by
praying so much, by attending church so much, thus they will
certainly, certainly merit God's favor, and win God's favor, and
do good before God. Now, be certain that you understand
this. God requires heart obedience. But he's got to start there. Everything that starts anywhere
else is an abomination to him. God requires heart obedience.
The Lord looketh on the heart. Now, don't go out of here and
suggest that I'm saying that people who are unsaved should
pay no regard to anything they do outwardly. You listen carefully
to me. We must seek to live morally upright lives. I don't stand in this pulpit
and preach morality. Morality for morality's sake
will do you no eternal good. But I'm going to tell you something.
In this immoral, perverse society in which we live, somebody needs
to give folks some clear, clear instruction. The only thing really
that distinguishes the natural man from brute beast, now listen
to The only thing really that distinguishes the natural man
from brute beast is that God has stamped upon man's heart
and conscience a sense of moral responsibility. It's the only
thing. And when men cast off the law
of God inscribed upon their hearts by nature, and they cast off
the witness of God in their consciences, they live as brute beasts. Why,
dogs don't think anything about stealing another dog's food.
Never saw one in my life. Boy, I better not take that.
That belongs to his dog. They don't think anything about
it. Beasts don't think anything about shacking up with this mate
tonight and this one tomorrow night. They don't think anything
about swapping mates. They don't think anything about it. They
live without moral conscience. Group beasts think nothing whatsoever
of killing one another. There's nothing to it. There's
absolutely nothing to it. Will you hear me? God didn't
make you an animal. and God will not deal with you
as an animal. God Almighty has established
in man a moral consciousness which is nothing less than the
law of God written on his heart. And for a man to live in violation
of it is for that man to invoke the wrath of God and misery upon
himself. Not only should we be careful
in maintaining moral dignity as human beings, We ought to
be meticulous, meticulous and faithful in all the outward duties
of worship and obedience. I can't stress enough how my
heart aches for you when I see you willingly, seemingly without concern. Neglect
the only thing that God has ordained as a means of blessing to your
soul And that's the worship of God Only a fool only a fool will
neglect the word of God, the worship of God, the fellowship
of God's people, the ordinances of God's worship, only a fool
will neglect those things by which God has declared, this
is the means by which I'll meet with man. This is the way I'll
speak to you. God said I'll meet you at the
mercy seat. He won't meet you anywhere else. He will meet you
at Jesus Christ the Lord and Jesus Christ the Lord has declared
that where two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the
midst of them. Sometimes I come here empty and dry and barren. I'll be honest with you. Sometimes
I stand up here and try to preach to you and I feel like anybody
here would be better off standing here and preaching to me. And
I'm not being pretentiously humble. I'm not good at eating humble
pie. I'm just telling you the truth. And sometimes I leave the same
way I came in. Empty, dry, and barren. But I know two things. The Lord
Jesus meets you with his people. Once in a while, he speaks to
me. Once in a while, I get to see
him. Once in a while, I get to enter
into a little bit of worship. And I keep coming back. Maybe
I'll get to see him tonight. Maybe he'll speak to me tonight.
Maybe, maybe today, maybe today he'll let me worship him. I come
with that hope and I keep coming back because Rex, it's my responsibility. It's my responsibility. It's
just right. My soul, the very least I can
do, the very least I can do is put myself in the house of God
when the doors are open. The very least I can do in response
to him who loved me and gave himself for me is support the
cause of Christ. The very least I can do is gather
with his people and try to encourage them as best I can. And yet when all is said and
done, the performance of these outward duties is not holiness. The performance of these outward
duties is not good works. The Lord looks on the heart.
Lend your heart, he said, not your garments. Now, when he says
that, he's not suggesting that we neglect the outward. He's
saying the outward without the inward is meaningless. So, rend
your hearts when you come to me. The kingdom of God, you see,
is not in meat and drink. That's not where it is. That's
not where it is. It's not what you put in your
mouth that defiles you. That's not it. That's not it.
The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. You understand the difference?
Let me briefly give you several things that are necessary. Will of God revealed in Scripture. That alone is good. which is
done in obedience to the word of God, and obedience to the
spirit's direction. If I do something with great
diligence, great self-denial, and great self-sacrifice, but
do that which God has not required, or that which is contrary to
God's word, I haven't done good, but rather I have done that which
is an abomination to him. That means that all human traditions,
all religious customs, all legal requirements, all of those things
that men set forth to say, this is good. Those things are nothing. Those things are nothing. If
we worship God, we've got to worship God in due order. You
can't worship God any way you want to. You can't come to God
any way you want to. You come to God the way God prescribed
and worship God according to his word. Anything that's good must be done in faith. Listen
to this. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. Without faith it's impossible
to please God. Now, the first two men who came
and worshipped after the fall are Cain and Abel. And you know
the Lord had respect to Abel and had no respect to Cain and
to his offerings. The great difference between
Cain and Abel in their worship was just this. Abel worshipped
God in faith. Cain didn't. Now Abel brought
a sacrifice to blood because Abel believed God and he knew
he could not approach God without a blood sacrifice. And his acceptance
was upon the blood that presented in that sacrifice. But he came
to God in faith. That's the reason he brought
blood. Cain came in self-righteous underneath. Cain brought the
works in his hands. Cain brought what he had produced.
Cain brought that which God would never accept because it was something
that had the mark of Cain on it. Cain didn't believe God. The essence then of good works
is that first it must be according to the will of God and secondly
it must be by faith. And thirdly, it's got to be for
the glory of God. Whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. Give, yeah give. Give generously,
give sacrificially. But unless you give for the glory
of God, you just must fit in His face. Read your Bible? Oh yes, read
it. Study it. Seek to know it. But
unless you read for God's glory, it's no better work than if you
didn't read it at all. You understand what I'm saying?
That's the test for God's glory. The Pharisees, they prayed three
times a day. They fasted twice every week. They paid tithes on every bushel
of corn they raised. They gave alms to the poor. And
everything they did was to be seen of men. Everything they
did was to be seen of men. And having been seen of men and
won their flaws, they had their reward. Bobby Estes, I want something
more than your approval. I want God's approval. God's approval. That comes only
as you do what you do for his glory. Doesn't much matter what you
think of what I'm preaching, only what God thinks of it. I know the truth is there. Oh,
I know it's true. But is it for God's glory? Or
is there some other motive back here somewhere? all for the glory
of God. Fourthly, all good works are
motivated and spring from love for Christ. You see, love for Christ is the
essence of obedience and the motive of service, always. Modern religion, modern religion,
I can almost say universally. Modern religion all around us,
of every brand, every rank, liberal, conservative, moderate, it don't
matter what you call it. Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal,
Presbyterian, Catholic, it don't matter what you call it. Modern
religion, in its essence, is motivated by and directs people
and promotes self-love. Do this and this is what you
get. Do that and this is what you'll get. Come, come, come
believe all Jesus and get eternal life. Come and get God's blessing. Come here and be blessed to the
Lord. Give this and God will honor
you. In this book, things are exactly
opposite. God created Laocritus for his
glory. Now if you want to get in harmony
with God somehow, He got to be motivated by love for him. If
you want to be in harmony with Christ, somehow, somehow your
heart must be moved by love for him. If you love me, our Savior said,
keep my commandments. For the love of Christ constrains
us. The end of the commandment, the
whole object and end of the whole law of God, and I will go further
and say of the whole revelation of God, is charity. Out of a pure heart, and of a
good conscience, and of faith on faith. That which is done
to be seen of men is an abomination. That which is done out of the
fear of punishment is an abomination. That which is done with the desire
to get gain is an abomination. Only that which is done for the
glory of God from a heart of love is good and acceptable to
God. And all good works must be performed
with a willing heart. a willing heart. If there be
first a willing heart, first thing, a willing heart. You willing
to be here tonight? You, you willing to give of your
means? Are you willing to take a little
time and try to find out what this book says about you and
about God? Are you willing to seek his glory. Are you willing
to devote yourself to his will? If there be first a willing heart,
a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath,
and not according to that which he hath not. Willing heart, that's If that which I do for Christ
doesn't arise from a willing heart, it's an abomination to
God. If that which I do for my brethren,
my family, the church of God, or for the furtherance of the
gospel does not arise from a willing heart, it's altogether evil. No matter how good it may appear
to you or to anybody else, no matter how much men may applaud
it, unless it comes from a willing heart, it's an abomination. Thirdly,
what's the source of good works in God's people? I'll hurry through
this, but turn over to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter
2. What's the source? How can a
man, woman, in this world, in this body of flesh, do good? It's God who worketh in you. most to will and to do of his
good pleasure. Do you see that in verse 13?
Philippians chapter 2, the apostle says, wherefore my
beloved brethren, verse 12, as you have always obeyed, not in
my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now that doesn't
mean work to get saved. No, not at all. Not at all. That
means you work outwardly with reverence to God. With fear and
trembling, you work outwardly. Your salvation which God has
worked inwardly. Verse 13, for it is God which
worketh in you. It is God which worketh in you
both the will and the do of his good pleasure. So we have the
will and the ability to obey God only because God works in
us by his grace and by his power through the Holy Spirit. He gives
us the heart, the will, and the strength to do so. So that the
beginning, the progress, and the perfection of all the works
of God's saints is God's doing altogether. The grace of God,
as a principle of life, causes the believer to perform good
works. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
Love, joy, peace, and so forth. It's the Spirit's thing. The
Spirit bears fruit. And the grace of God, as the
doctrine of the gospel, teaches us. It inspires, motivates, and
teaches us to maintain good works. Good works are the result of
a saving union with Christ. Our Savior says I'm the vine,
you're the branches. We have been grafted into Christ
so that like a vine with branches running out from it, those living
branches draw all the sap of life from the vine. Cut them
off and they're dead. And every living branch brings
forth fruit. Every one of them do. Some better
fruit than others, but they all bring forth fruit. Some riper,
richer looking fruit than others, but they all bring forth fruit.
And if they don't bring forth fruit, it's causing no life there.
No life there. Our Savior says, from me is thy
fruit found. We are his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. And faith causes all who believe
to do those things that are described in the book of God as good works.
Faith without works is dead. Pure religion, undefiled religion,
does good works. It visits the fatherless and
widows in their afflictions, and causes a man to keep himself
unspotted from the world. As Gil put it, faith without
works is dead, and works without faith is dead. You've got to
believe God. The word of God, particularly
the gospel of the grace of God revealed in this word, causes
those who believe God to do good. The gospel is like seeds sown
in good ground. It springs forth and it brings
forth fruit. Some a hundredfold, some thirty,
some sixty, but it always brings forth fruit. All right, what's
the necessity? What's the necessity for good
works? Now Paul means for us to understand clearly good works
cannot produce salvation in whole or in part. Good works cannot
atone for sin. Good works cannot make peace
with God. Good works cannot purge your
conscience from dead works. Good works cannot produce righteousness,
sanctify us, or preserve us in life. Only Christ can do that. Good works, contrary to popular
opinion, do not go before us into heaven and prepare us a
great mansion in heaven. These television evangelists
and hucksters get on TV and radio and make appeals through the
papers and publications and say, now you take your money and send
it to me and lay a treasure for yourself in heaven. That's totally
contrary to the teaching of our Lord, Matthew 5. That's not what
he's talking about. Your works do not go before you
into heaven to give you a greater reward in heaven. Our works follow
us into heaven. Read Revelation 14.7. They follow
the saints into glory as a testimony to the everlasting praise of
God's grace in Jesus Christ the Lord. But we don't earn something
from God by what we do. Now some folks say, well, if
good works can't save us, and they can't justify us, they can't
sanctify us, they're not going to get us any upper seats in
heaven and the kingdom, then what's the use of good works?
What's the necessity? That kind of question reveals
a mercenary spirit that I won't answer to anyone. Good works
are described in this passage here in Titus 3, in verse 14,
as being necessary. Necessary uses. And here's the
necessity. They're necessary because God
ordained them. Were his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them? And God's people do, he sees
to it. A father wisely chastens his son to see to it that his
son yields obedience to it. Any father who doesn't, doesn't
love his son. That's just, that's the plain
statements of Holy Scripture. If you love your children, you
make them mind you. That's all there is to it. Our father, our
father loves us. And Ron, if we're his, he'll
bear our back and make us walk according to his will. He'll
do it. He will exercise great pain upon
us when necessary, only when necessary, but always when necessary
to speak to it that we render obedience to him. The necessity
is not only God's decree, but we must be careful to maintain
good work because it's good for us. Living in godliness, maintaining
good works, we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. We adorn our
profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And we make our calling
and election sure not to ourselves. Our works are not the basis of
our assurance. Oh no. Peter was absolutely confident
of his acceptance with Christ. Read John chapter 21. He was
absolutely confident when the only confidence he had as far
as his outward behavior was concerned is that he had betrayed the master.
He had denied him. Openly denied him. Cursed and
swore he didn't know him. He had forsaken him. And yet
Peter said, Lord, you know everything. Show that I love you. You see,
the basis of our assurance is not what we do. The basis of
our assurance is faith in Christ. But our good works, our good
works make our calling and election sure to other folks, to our brethren. We observe God's grace in one
another. Believers have a real tough time
observing much of it in themselves. Honestly, we do. Brother Joe
Carroll said one time, he said, Christians and preachers are
like a red wasp. He said, they're never as big
as when they're first born. And that's pretty well accurate.
We have a tough time observing much grace in ourselves. But
as we walk before God, seek to honor him. Walk before God, seek
to devote ourselves to him. Folks, see us and to make confident
of our faith and of our election, of our acceptance with God. Because
the only way anybody, the only way anybody can see your faith
is by your word. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. James said, show me your faith.
Show me your faith. I'll show you my faith without
works. Oh, no. Show me your faith by your works.
That's the only way I can see it. It's the only way I can. And we must be careful to maintain
good works for the benefit of others. As you read the scriptures and
you start to thinking about doing good. Every time the scripture
talks about it, every time the scripture talks about it, it
talks in this context. It talks about doing good for
other people. That's exactly right. Good works, good works don't have much to
do with show. They don't have much to do with
religious outward piety. They don't have much to do with
austerity. Good works have a lot to do with
love, grace, kindness, gentleness, caring for one another, forgiving
one another, forbearing one another. The Apostle Paul said, let this
mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. You be careful. Be careful. Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory. But let every man look after
the things of others. Everyone. So that those who live
like Christ are encouraged to live not looking out for me. Well, how's this going to affect
me? What's this going to cost me? No. Looking out for somebody
else. How's this going to affect Pam
Wood? She's my sister. What's this going to do to her?
What's it going to cost her? How's it going to make her feel?
You understand what I'm saying? Good works have something to
do with love. Good works have something to
do with kindness. Good works have something to
do with thoughtfulness of other people. Good works performed
by God's people are sometimes a means of winning others to
Christ. Remember how Peter tells the
women, if you want to win your husband to your savior, keep
your mouth shut and obey him. That's a paraphrase, Fortna paraphrase
1 Peter 1 chapter 3 verses 1 through 3. Don't be as much concerned
about how you look Now please don't take that to mean walk
around with one of those funny looking buns on top of your head
and wear no makeup. But don't be so much concerned,
ladies, about how you look as about how you are. Adorn yourselves
after the inward man. Adorn yourselves after the image
of Christ. And your husbands, as they behold
your chaste conversation, that'll have an effect. Some of you sitting
here first came to hear the gospel and you now love it. Not because
you were somehow enamored with the preacher or enamored with
the message. No. You came because you saw in a
husband or a wife or a friend or relative godliness. And you said to yourself,
his faith is real. I want to know his God. I want
to find out what his religion's all about. And good works are
profitable to others as an example to them. An example for them
to follow. Paul said to Timothy, be thou
an example unto the church of God. Be an example to them. Let's quit making excuses for
ourselves. Let's quit it. Bobby Estes, you
are and you ought to be an example to every man, woman, and child
in this congregation. An example. That's exactly right. In conduct, in behavior, in works,
in attitude, an example. And like it or not, you are,
for better or for worse. For better or for worse. Men
and women take the children. Forgive me if it hurts. It's
got to hurt. It wouldn't do any good. They
take the children and they give them an example of being faithful
at work. Boy, you got to be faithful. Stay in school. Be steady. Get
an education. It'll do you good. And you bend
over backwards. Seek to it. You get an education.
You scrimp and save and you send the kids off to school and you
work hard and you want them to do good. And you give them every
example you can how to live in this world. And so often, by example, you decide, well, You know, honey, it ain't really too important
that you go worship God. Now, we'll go when we're not
so tired. We'll go down and worship God when we've got nothing else
to do. We'll go worship God when we're not having a sale down
here or when we're not having a game over here. We'll go worship God when it's
convenient. And you say to them, oh, you'd
never say it. You'd never say it. But by the
willful absence of yourselves from that which is good, and
the willful neglect of that which is good, you say to them, it
ain't really that important. I'll sleep in this morning. Need
to catch up on my rest. Tell your boss that Monday morning.
Tell your boss that Monday morning. Well, God will understand. You're dead right. God will understand. He understands better than I
do, you do, or anybody else does. And good works are profitable because they show folks the way
of faith. Oh, let's take care to set a
good example before those who are under our influence, unbelievers
around us, our children, weak believers, young believers. I'm
calling for you and for me to be careful to maintain good works so that you walk in this world
with love. joy and peace toward God. That means devote yourself to
Him. Be content with Him. Believe
Him. You walk toward one another with
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness. That means be patient with each
other. be long-suffering, forbear one
another, be thoughtful, be forgiving, be kind. Oh, God teach me to
be kind, gracious to men. And with regard to yourself,
seek by God's grace to live in this world in faith, faithfulness. God make me a faithful man. and
meekness make me to realize I'm your servant in this world. And
temperance, give me control by your spirit over myself. I'm calling for us to give ourselves
to Jesus Christ and to one another totally, totally. Well preacher, that's good preaching,
but it ain't practical. That's the most practical thing
in this world. Most practical thing in this
world. Because you see, this life, this relationship is the
only thing Give me a motive, pastor. Okay,
I'll give you one. Know you not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, No thieves, no covetous, no drunkards,
no revilers, no extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of
God. And such were some of you. But you are washed. You are sanctified. You're justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God.
What? Know you not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God? And you're not your own. For
you're bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirits. Put your gods. What's your response? Let me tell you what mine is.
I spoke in a message to me, and this is my response to the message
God gave me. I take this bread and this wine
one more time in remembrance of him who loved me and gave
himself for me. And this I declare because I'm
not my own. I'm not my own. stock and barrel
I've been bought bought with the blood of Jesus Christ and
this I declare by the grace of God as for me and my house we
will serve the Lord. How about you? How about you?

Be Careful To Maintain Good Works

What does the Bible say about good works?

How do we know that salvation is by grace and not by works?

Why are good works important for Christians?

What are the characteristics of good works?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Be Careful To Maintain Good Works

What does the Bible say about good works?

How do we know that salvation is by grace and not by works?

Why are good works important for Christians?

What are the characteristics of good works?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

More from Don Fortner

Same Scripture

Articles by Don Fortner

Books by Don Fortner

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book